St Nicholas - stories and myths

[Beastie]

This is for a magazine article about 'the real' St Nicholas and some of the stories etc surrounding his name....

[ThreeEyesWorm]

Dude. Wow. That is amazing. I would totally buy a print of that.You shoud put it on DA.

I guess the only thing I don't like are the kids. It makes the picture a bit too... innoccent... maybe that's the content you were asked to do. in which case, i dont like whoever came up with that idea.

[humblerthanyou]

Oh man! I want every piece of all your art!

[Eric Henson]

Strong panoramic piece! I think the 3 women (near the barrel) and thier expressions are done really well.

[sacredbob]

The print on St. Nick's cloak is beautifully done. Fantastic image!

[Bozzilla]

my jaw just dropped
very, very amazing!!!

[Viktor Bogdanovic]

great great illustration. the colors are wonderful and all the small details really make this fly.

[Wo-Nellie]

I guess the only thing I don't like are the kids.

My problem is the same, but for a different reason. The boys look anachronistic in that scene, like they fell out of the 20th century.

[mikeljanin]

Beautiful image. Lovely details. Wonderful color. Did I say I like it a lot?

[Smoke&Mirrors]

Great stuff, st. Nic looks awesome!

[Eric Henson]

My problem is the same, but for a different reason. The boys look anachronistic in that scene, like they fell out of the 20th century.

From the looks of their clothing that may have been the intention. I'm not sure. Only Beastie can shed light on that though.

Don't leave us hanging, Beastie!

[KidGloves]

Good stuff. I like the style alot

[Beastie]

Thanks for the comments, guys.

In the rough pic that I sent off to the art director, the kids (and the market woman) were all a bit ugly. That was only because I rushed them out and scribbled a bit - but it was made clear that when I drew the final piece that all of the characters would have to be 'pretty'. So, that's why the kids look innocent and pure.

As for the clothing - I specifically asked whether the characters should be wearing traditional or modern dress and was told that 'it didn't matter'. It was suggested that the boys wear 'normal clothes' - but they liked the idea of the girls wearing headscarves. In the story that relates to the boys in the barrel -- most existing illustrations seem to show the boys as being naked -- and I'm sure they were just keen to avoid that.

I haven't had feedback on the final piece yet. I was expecting it yesterday - so am hoping they like it.

[Eric Henson]

I haven't had feedback on the final piece yet. I was expecting it yesterday - so am hoping they like it.

Hopefully they will recognize the awesomess coming from this piece and approve. Thanks for letting us know the story behind the boys, too!

[Beastie]

Well, they've got a few additions to be made to the pic.

They want the grain sacks to be labelled - and the bags of gold to be labelled as well. That's an easy change.

They want the ship to have a Turkish flag on it. Again, that's easy.

They think that the market seller woman looks like she's going to attack the girls with that aubergine. Hmmm. The more I look at it - the more I see it. Anyway, I'm gonna have to change that arm.

The last change is a bit more difficult to pull off. I've got to remove the mosque - and replace it with an amphitheatre -- and ALSO add some stone tombs into the hillside in the background.

So, yeah, watch this space for those revisions......